


Panacea

by Kitsu



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: (Mostly mine), (Now Also With Fangs), Alcohol, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Because Sypha is Wonderful, Blood, Blow Jobs, But I Can't Write Her Like That, Corpses, Feels, Fix-It, Gore, I cannot with good conscience let that fuckery stand, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Season/Series 03, Reunions, Scars, Shameless Smut, Smut, Snowballing, Swearing, Vampire Bites, Vampires, fangs, implied poly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23207671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsu/pseuds/Kitsu
Summary: When dark, disturbing rumours reach Trevor and Sypha, Sypha sends Trevor to investigate - and, if possible, fix the problem. Fix a broken Alucard.
Relationships: (Implied - Because I Cannot Write It), Alucard/Trevor Belmont, Trevor Belmont/Sypha Belnades
Comments: 131
Kudos: 460





	1. Chapter 1

“Go,” she said, her eyes bright and honest. The darkness that had clouded them after having been reminded just how dark and twisted humanity could be, had faded after a few weeks. She was nothing if not robust. 

“I love you, you big oaf, but go.” Her hand was warm against his skin where it cupped his chin. “I like you, I love you, I want you to stay - but _he_ needs you. You need to find him, fix him. You heard the rumours, same as me: ‘Dracula’s son is just as evil as his father’, ‘the corpses on stakes are again adorning the steps of the castle’, ‘darkness casts a long shadow anew’. It’s not _him_ , not as we know him. Something’s happened - and you want to go find out what, I can tell.”

She read him too well - and she was entirely correct. Ominous rumours about their friend had been reaching them for a while, since not long after their dark moment in Lindenfeld. Even though he didn’t much like the bastard, the whispered rumours meant something was wrong, so very wrong. 

“Come with me. We’re better together,” he begged her, hand clasping hers.

“No, love. I’ll go visit my family, it’s been a while. Us together, we are too focused on each other. For this, it needs to be you. I love him as well, as a friend, but he hides his true self from me. Only you can aggravate him badly enough for him to spill the truth, to drop the mask he hides behind.” With a small, tinkling laugh, she withdrew her hand, letting it trace a path down the outline of his arm. “You are mine, I am yours. But I don’t mind sharing your attention if it is with him.” The sensuous smile accompanying her words spoke to their honestness. 

Goddamn her and her weird Speaker ways. Her kind really didn’t pay any respect to the established ‘natural order’ of things unless it gained them in particular - and this also applied to their relationships - both friendly and intimate. She’d made instant friends with a half-breed vampire in mere moments, after all. 

Grabbing his hand, she entwined her fingers with his, pulling his hand close to her heart. “Right now it sounds like he might need you more than I do. I’ll follow, in a while. I’ll come find you. Both.”

As sensible as always. And though she held a firm grasp on his heart, there was also a small, dark corner of it reserved for a cold-hearted, foul-mouthed half-vampire that had helped save their lands from certain doom. Though he was loath to admit it. 

He caved. “I’ll see you to your family safely first.”

\---

Alone, he walked the overgrown road leading to the old Belmont estate, a sensation of deepening dread pressing down on him, heavy and repressive. Only late evening, the sun still shone brightly above, but the heat didn’t reach him. The air was indeed wrong, cold and stale between tall trees, the ground damp beneath his feet. It felt... like before. He was _almost_ sure it wasn’t just in his mind, though he feared what would greet him at the castle doors. The rumours could turn out to be exaggerated lies spawned from simple minds’ fears and jealousies… Or they could be completely true, leading him into the domain of a rabid vampire with a newfound fondness for inhumane methods of torture. 

\---

Stopping in front of the castle, he surveyed it from under knitted brows. It stood as tall and imposing as when he’d left, casting long shadows. There were indeed two corpses impaled on sharpened stakes at the bottom step of the stairs, a man and a woman from the look of it. Just the two though, not the scores that Dracula had decorated his lawn with in times past. 

He studied the two bodies closer, and though they were in an advanced state of decomposition, he still made a few telling observations. The amount of darkened, rotting blood on the ground around the stakes told him they had not been killed there, too little of it had pooled there. Most likely it had already started coagulating before they had been impaled. The rags of nightshirts hung off the rotting flesh, dancing in the slight wind, similar in design and colour. At their throats skin peeled away from bones and tendons, stripped away like sun-scorched skin, drying. The result of slashes cutting across their throats. The pair had been killed with a blade, not fangs - impaled to serve as grotesque warning signs. Nothing screamed ‘leave’ as loud as a couple of soon-to-be skeletonized puppets on your front porch.

Not wanting to look at the raven-pecked, maggot-eaten, twisted shapes any longer, he walked up the steps, thinking the pair must’ve managed to do something truly rotten to end up as corpse lollipops. He wondered what. He’s seen Alucard angry - but never furious enough to cause him to lose all reason. His mask was a hard one to crack. 

The giant doors in front of him were closed. Securely shut, barring everyone out. He couldn’t even dream of opening them himself, he knew as much. The damn things were pretty much magical in nature, like the rest of the bloody construct, only opening when the castle's owner willed them so.

At the top of the steps he pulled his sword, using the hilt to knock against the stone. He could hear the loud knocks echo through the hallway inside, reverberating. Waiting, he listened. Not a sound followed. He knocked again. 

Nothing. 

Damn vampire was either gone or ignoring him. Hissing, he stepped back, and yelled from the top of his lungs.

Again, nothing. 

Night was falling, and it was cold. If the vampire was going to be like that, he’d have to find somewhere to sleep. He backtracked, made his way to the hold. There was a new mechanism, some sort of mechanic, counterweight winch, and poking at it a few times, he decided he could probably operate it. Getting on the platform, he hoisted himself down to the ground floor. There looked to be some sort of device to secure the platform in place, so he locked it down.

Looking around, he took in the broken chaos of the circular room. Good thing it had been that one to lose its roof. The main collection was still mostly safe behind closed doors. 

Opening the closest door, he stepped into the main hall. It was pitch dark inside, but he remembered where the lights were at, hitting the switch. Slowly, the lanterns flickered on. The room was still immense, and cold, but at least he would have a roof over his head until morning. He didn’t bother walking further inside, simply settling on the floor just inside of the door, leaning against a rail. He pulled his cloak around himself, quickly falling into a restless sleep, dreaming of dead shapes impaled on sharp sticks, screaming their silent screams in the hundreds. Screaming for it to end. Even his subconscious knew whatever was up with Alucard, he’d have to stop it before it came to that again. Before Alucard could _actually_ follow in his father’s footsteps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. Season 3 happened, whatever *that* was. I both love and hate it - but it needs to fixed. Resolved. Like right now. Not in a year when season 4 is released. This is my - as usual; smutty - take on a fix-it of sorts.
> 
> Was originally going to call this 'Nepenthe', but realized I already have a fic called that. I no is good at word-ing.
> 
> And ah, I love Sypha to death, she's the baddest ass off the whole Netflix franchise, but I just can't write her like that. No hate, just my own incapabilities. She's still Trevor and Alucard's best wing-woman though, while getting some of that Belmont herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Trevor awoke in the gloom of the library, knowing instinctively it was morning even though the light-levels inside never changed whenever the lanterns were turned on. Awkwardly getting up from the floor, he stretched, joints cracking loudly, muscles stiff and sore. He was getting old, and quickly. Good thing he was already cranky, wouldn’t make the transition too difficult. Old and cranky would suit him well when that time came. _If_ that time ever came - he didn’t exactly lead the safest, most sedentary of lives. 

Walking back to the improvised winch, he got up the same way he came down, utilizing the built in counterweight of the contraption to speed him upwards. Something like that, of course it must’ve been Alucard himself who'd built it. 

Outside the sun shone, yet the air was hazy and cold, like a veil keeping any warmth from reaching the ground. Looking around, he noticed the leviathan doors were still closed, but even so he walked up to the towering archway. Sitting down on the top step he looked down the road leading up to the hold and the castle. Chin in his palm, elbow resting on his knee, he stared out into the early morning. 

Alucard was a vampire, indeed, but Trevor had never seen him behave like his father, never seen him that ruthless. Cold, distant, yes, but never brutal. He eyed the withered up corpses. Not like this.

Mere months ago he would have instantly dubbed Alucard a monster after seeing the corpses, and set about to hunt him down. Now… Now it didn’t feel right. Alucard, at times, was more human than the best of them, having inherited all of the good from his parents and little of the bad. Well, except perhaps his personality when around Trevor - and that might just be partly Trevor’s fault as well, though he would never admit to it. Cats and dogs, oil and water, all that shit. Actually, more like oil and fire - rubbing each other the wrong way until the static sparked and ignited, explosively. 

No matter, Trevor needed to get into the castle, one way or another. Either to find out what had triggered Alucard this hard and fix it, or, if he was completely irredeemable, to end him. Either or. Getting up, he started to walk the outline of the castle, studying the crash-landed structure. There were cracks and crevices in several places, but he’d have to climb to reach one large enough for him to climb through. Oh well, time to get to it. Finding a suitable spot, where brick made hand- and footholds, he made his way up to a broken window. The room inside was thrashed, debris littering the floor. Not a part of the castle deemed important enough to clean up then. Sitting in the windowsill, he listened. Nothing. Nothing at all - just dead, empty silence. 

Getting up, he moved to the door, only to find it jammed. So that was the reason the window had been left unbarred. Not that it would stop him. Finding that it originally had opened outwards into the hallway, he was sure he could break it open, given enough force. 

The sound of the door breaking resounded through the hallway, and he hissed, knowing his shoulder would bruise badly. Damn it. And if Alucard was in the castle and awake, he was damn well aware of Trevor now, if he hadn’t already been after yesterday’s knocking and screaming.

Stretching, rolling the bruising shoulder and rubbing the back of his neck, Trevor headed down the hallway, strolling nonchalantly. More nonchalantly than he felt, at least - his mind was in a state of total turmoil. He wasn’t even sure Alucard, when found, wouldn’t just attack him on sight, having gone completely rabid. Yet he felt like he had to act level and passive, nonetheless. 

He headed downwards, towards the main hall, or at least he thought that was where he was going. The castle was a maze, and he could only make educated guesses as to whether he was heading in the right direction or not. The halls were dark, the air cold, as if the castle was completely empty. Still, he had an inkling as to where he could find Alucard - _if_ the vampire hadn’t gone completely feral. 

He’d guessed correctly. There was a slight flicker of light emanating from the kitchens, hinting of a fire lit within.

Entering the room, he located his target, for better or for worse. Alucard was sitting in a chair at the end of the table, a glass of wine in his hand, even at such an early hour. His eyes were colder than they had ever been, the furrow between his brows deep and seemingly permanent. “Belmont,” he said, voice dead even.

Trevor studied him, looking, searching for any changes to the vampire - and instantly saw the most immediate change. Fading, yet still red scars, burns, twisting up his forearms where his shirt had been rolled up to his elbows. Someone had been naughty, oh so very naughty to manage to mark a proficient soldier like Alucard in such a way. 

Stepping further inside the room, he still said nothing, only stared. Alucard finally had to tilt his head to look up at him, revealing golden eyes filled with anger. Golden eyes dimmed by hurt. 

Anger and hurt Trevor could deal with. He understood anger and hurt. Lately, he had even learnt how to manage his own anger and hurt, without trying to drown himself in alcohol to numb the pain, all due to Sypha - and even Alucard. Friends. 

Anger and hurt could be healed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can tell y'all, this won't be a slow burn fic - this is a goddamned quick-fix. Alucard deserves better, now.


	3. Chapter 3

“The fuck did those two do?” Trevor found himself asking, voice tainted by an anger of his own he hadn’t realized he felt. Without thinking, he reached for the wrist of Alucard’s free arm, pulling it close and rubbing a thumb along the scarred skin. The difference in texture compared to the unmarred skin shocked him. Alucard wasn’t supposed to get damaged - ever, the scar across his chest an anomaly, caused by someone even more powerful than him - his father. The scars on his arms made Trevor think of someone taking a knife to a classical statue, carving destruction into stone, damaging something of great value to the entirety of humanity.

Alucard hissed, fangs on show, pulling his arm free and close to his chest. Turning away, he spoke again, words grating and harsh. “Oh, nothing new. Humans simply trying to kill the half-vampire again.”

There was certainly more to it, Trevor knew for sure. If the pair had _only_ tried to _kill_ Alucard, their bodies wouldn’t be showcased at the bottom of the stairs like trophies of revenge.

“Why are you here, Belmont?” Adrian continued. “Here to kill the big, bad vampire who’s staking people and displaying them on his front lawn for everyone and the world to see? Are you going to be a good Belmont, rid the world of this evil?” 

The hurt in his voice was salient, though Trevor doubted Alucard was aware. Rubbing the back of his head again, he tried a smile. “Honestly, I’m not sure I could if I would. We did come out pretty much even, the last time, didn’t we?” He pulled a chair out from under the table, and sat down, resting his crossed arms on the table, still studying Alucard. “Sypha needed a break from me, and I wanted to check up on… my friend. Well, at least the closest thing I have to one aside from her.” It wasn’t exactly a lie - he didn’t have many friends, and Alucard… When they didn’t bicker and throw insults at each other, he’d actually been pretty pleasant to be around. For a vampire.

Alucard’s eyebrow lifted, adding scorn to his features, but at least he hadn’t tried to kill Trevor yet. “Friends? Are we now? Isn’t that impossible, _Belmont_?” 

The added weight to his name was surely there to remind him of who and what he was, a monster hunter with a certain reputation to uphold. “Not as long as you behave, Ţepeş,” he simply answered.

Alucard’s eyes were on Trevor again, mistrusting and uneasy. “Does it look like I behaved?”

“Not sure I would call this you misbehaving. Far as I can tell, judging from those…,” he said, and pointed to the brands, “they hurt you. Everyone is allowed to defend themselves, even the son of Dracula. If they attacked you and lost, they were weak. But why the stakes?”

Considering the multiplied level of hurt and loneliness flashing across Alucard’s face, Trevor didn't need an answer, he could pretty much surmise what had happened. “Oh. Let me guess, they came with open arms, offering friendship, companionship.”

Alucard just stared at him, but a tinge of surprise coloured his eyes.

“And then they somehow tried to backstab you.”

”How…?”

Alucard’s reaction told Trevor he had guessed correctly.

“For someone as cold as you, you’re not. You're surprisingly easy to read, Fangs. That look of hurt and betrayal… I’ve seen it before.” In his mother’s eyes, in his father’s eyes, in… No, he wasn’t going to dwell on it. Shaking his head, he continued, focusing on Alucard again, instead of the past. “So now what? You’re going to isolate yourself in here, this proposed tomb of yours, cut yourself off from everyone? Sypha is going to flip out, you know.”

“If she’s so worried, how is it you’re here, and she’s not?”

“She’s a cunning one, that one. She loves you, Alucard, as a friend. But she also knows only I can annoy you the way I can. Figured I’d get you talking, some way or another, she did.” He smiled toothily, disarmingly. “She’ll come later, to check if I did my appointed job to her satisfaction, though.”

Alucard sighed, and looked pointedly at him. “So you don’t care that I killed two humans? Cut their throats?”

“Sure I care. Like I would care if someone had tried hurting Sypha and she had disposed of them. I care that someone can be so reckless with their own lives, I care that the world is a shitty enough place to foster broken people, people who’ll pull stunts that’ll cost them their lives. I care that you feel so dissociated from your mother’s world you’d feel the need to put up those obvious stop-signs outside to distance yourself from everyone and everything. ”

Staring wide-eyed at Trevor, Adrian had shut his mouth completely. It was the most he had heard Trevor speak, and most likely the most honest he had ever been with him as well. Needing to do _something_ , to remove himself from Trevor’s intent focus, he got to his feet and rummaged around in a cabinet until he found an extra glass, tossing it to Trevor, who caught it in the air. “Have some wine.” It was a completely obvious attempt at changing the subject, but he didn’t care. 

Trevor reached for the open bottle, pouring some into the glass for himself. Sitting back in the chair, he lifted it and toasted Alucard. “Humanity sucks, we both know it. But there are worse things in the world, and you are one of the few people strong enough to take on about anything. The world still needs you.”

“I don’t feel like doing anything any longer,” Alucard said, sitting back down on the chair. “Humanity deserves everything that is coming for it.” The spite in his voice was clear, but it was spite, not pure hatred. “They _do not_ deserve me at my best, as they did their best to turn me into my worst.”

“Now, now, Fangs, what would your mother think of her son abandoning mankind, leaving them to their own devices and certain doom?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Trevor Belmont was oddly perceptive.
> 
> 'm sorry for the short chapters, but I need to work through it a bit more slowly than usual, suffering migraines lately.
> 
> I'm also trying to vary between Alucard and Adrian depending on who's viewpoint a paragraph is to be read from. Experiments, experiments.


	4. Chapter 4

“Fuck you, Belmont,” Adrian spat back, eyes fiery. “Whatever she would have said, look what humanity delivered her. I’m starting to think she might actually have been blind, thinking there was good in them.”

“She was not, she just saw further than most. She saw the potential of the world, beyond the chaos that taints it now. One day, maybe everyone’s ideals will match hers - but never if everyone is gone, devoured by Stygia and her likes.” Trying to calm Alucard was Trevor’s main objective, and though he’d never met Lisa, from what Alucard had told them of her, she’d sounded like a capable woman with grand ideas - though unlucky enough to have been born in the wrong age. A stray thought hit him - St. Germain would have loved Lisa, though his train of thought was interrupted by Alucard sighing loudly.

“Fuck Stygia, fuck Carmilla and her army, fuck it all. I’m tired. So very, very tired.” Alucard did look it, tiredness and anger darkening his eyes. Sitting back in the chair, he draped an arm across his eyes, head tilting back listlessly.

“Yes, yes,” Trevor chimed in. “It’s the same as I’ve always said. But then along came a goody two-shoes Speaker on odd terms with God and her floating vampire-Jesus, telling me it could be done - evil could be rid. Blame yourself for me being here now, vampire-Jesus. A year ago I’d have left you to stew in your own misery. Now, let’s drink and forget.” He took another sip of the wine. “This bloody castle owes me a drunk stupor. Perhaps maybe you’ll feel better drunk and in my company.”

“You wish,” Alucard answered curtly, but he rose to his feet and went to fetch another bottle of wine. “Dad’s finest.”

Without words, they both drank as the hours whiled away, until Trevor’s face felt warm and Alucard’s eyes looked glassy and distant, weak sighs escaping him ever so often. 

“Drunk enough to feel like filling me in on the details yet?” Trevor suddenly asked, voice slightly slurred.

“...” The silence Alucard met him with was heavy, and it drew out for long seconds, until he drew a shaky breath and started speaking, voice broken and gravelly. Apparently he’d decided to trust Trevor with his troubles after all. “I trusted them. They were so warm, so spirited. Young. They wanted to learn, so I taught them… About vampires, monsters. Showed them the libraries and the hold, showed them all the information they could find there. Turned out they were monsters themselves, in the process of luring me into their spiderweb - one made of silver and holy enchantments strong enough to bind even me.” He waved his forearm, showing off the scars. “I don't know where they got it, but it was stronger than even your whips. They didn’t know about my sword though…”

That explained the slashed throats. “Fuck ‘em,” was all Trevor managed. “They didn’t deserve you. Didn’t deserve to touch you.” It was a weird thing to say, he knew it as soon as the words were out of his mouth. If anyone had asked why he was suddenly blushing, he’d been blaming it on the wine he’d imbibed with vehemence.

“But _who_ does, then?” Adrian asked softly, voice muffled as he hid his face in the nook of his elbow, arm resting on the table “Who do _I_ deserve? _What_ do I deserve? Eternal loneliness, never being vampire enough for some yet too much of one for others?”

The loneliness in his voice was heartbreaking, even enough to shatter Trevor’s stone heart. He slammed the recently emptied glass down on the table, almost hard enough to splinter it. “You have us. Me and Sypha,” he said vehemently.

“No, Trevor, you two have you. I saw it in the hold, I saw it when you left. She loves you.” The dejection in Alucard’s voice travelled, even though his face was still hidden, words muted by wood and fabric.

“That she does, aye. But Alucard, that girl has a heart large enough to share.” Trevor couldn’t help the small, low snicker escaping him at the thought of Sypha’s odd approach to the term ‘relationship’. 

Alucard finally looked up, his eyes meeting Trevor’s over his arm. “Are you saying she has feelings for me as well as for you?” His eyebrows arched, expression incredulous.

“Heh,” Trevor chuckled. “Not exactly. ‘S more like she’s extremely perceptive and I can’t hide a thing from her.”

Alucard stared at him, confusion apparent. “What does that mean? You…”

Trevor grinned, letting the alcohol-addled vampire churn it over for a moment. He knew the exact moment Alucard realized what he had been implying. He started laughing, the shocked expression on Alucard’s face just too funny.

“You… You!” Adrian stuttered.

“Yes, me.” Trevor tilted his head, the corners of his mouth twisting up slowly, until he was grinning languidly at Adrian. “You’re pretty slow on the uptake today, Fangs. Must be the wine.”

Adrian sat up bolt straight, staring at Trevor across the table. He felt himself grab the front of his own shirt, his fingers twisting the fabric, knuckles whitening. What the hell was Belmont on about? He… He couldn’t be saying what Adrian thought he’d said. “Liar,” he spoke, voice trembling more than he was comfortable with. Levelling it, he continued. “You constantly swore and cursed at me, always looked at me like you thought me a filthy thing. And… _you left_.” If Trevor had felt something for him, why had he gone? He’d left, leaving Adrian alone. Alone, to be led astray by his own emotions and two broken humans. If Trevor had stayed… If he’d stayed, wouldn’t things have turned out different? Fate and coincidence were cruel, too cruel.

Trevor toyed with the glass in his hand, twirling it slowly on the table’s surface, as he carefully chose his words. “No lie. I never hated you, I just didn’t like you much in the beginning. It was in my blood, as the expression goes. It takes a moment to undo years of training, years of distrust of anyone not completely human. For fuck’s sake, I don’t even like humans much - I’m just a bitter, cranky, distrustful idiot. After a while our bickering felt... comfortable. I started enjoying the back-and-forth between us. You gave as good as you got, didn’t you?” He’d even missed their quibbling while travelling with Sypha, though she did her best to fill the void. “Was always planning on coming back, didn’t realize it would take this long.” He stopped for a moment, looking apologetic. “Sorry.” Cracking a smile, he finished. “And by the way - I didn’t really have to like you to find you interesting.” Attractive was the right word, but he could find it in himself to say it out loud. “Nothing wrong with the way you look, after all.”

Again confusion clouded Alucard’s features. “But… You’re with her?”

“Yes.”

“And you still would…?”

“Yes.”

“And she doesn’t mind?”

“Not at all.” Trevor smiled. “You know we’re a pair of freaks, outcasts, excommunicates. We don’t do well with the established rules of this world of ours, neither of us, now do we?”

That much was true, at least. Belmont and Belnades had never been ones to adhere to the natural order of things.

Alucard fell silent again, his glass forgotten on the table, as he stared at Trevor, through him, past him, into a darkness only he saw, deeper than the darkness of the surrounding rooms - all the while running his fingers distractedly across his scarred arms.

“Wherever you want to take this is up to you,” Trevor continued. “If you want closeness, great. If all you need is someone to throw insults and swear at, I’m here for that as well. Same thing if you just need someone to get piss drunk with.” He grabbed the bottle of wine, filled up his glass again, leaned back and drained his glass. “But I think tomorrow we should bury your skeletons. You don’t need such a constant reminder as them two out there, and if you need someone chased away from your front step, I’ll do the chasing for you instead.”


	5. Chapter 5

Later, much later, Adrian found himself stumbling down a dark hallway. When on Earth had Trevor Belmont become such a voice of reason? Adrian considered it as he drunkenly made his way back to his bedroom - the new one - never again _that one_. 

He’d come to realize he didn’t do well alone. Not at all, and though he and Belmont could usually barely keep a conversation civil, he did actually trust him further than anyone else. Before their drunken kitchen conversation, his mind had felt fractured, splintered. Reasoning had been hard, his thoughts always scattering, going in dark directions. Now, even though drunk, it felt clearer, focused. He could see the outlines of what had to be done when daylight came anew. Belmont was right - it was time to bury them, to move on. 

Trevor’s little confession had come as a shock though, and Adrian was quickly becoming aware that he might not be the judge of people’s characters he’d thought himself. Honey’d turned out bitter, and venom intoxicating. 

Maybe this was what he truly needed - the two people who had shown themselves strong enough to stay by his side in battle even against overwhelming odds. They had come back - _were_ coming back for him. Maybe he hadn’t been as forgotten about as he had convinced himself he had been.

Dizzy, Adrian found his room, his bed, and collapsed onto it, staring at the ceiling as it spun slow circles above him.

Trevor Belmont wanted him. Oh, fucking hell… _That_ was a novel prospect.

\---

Staying in the kitchen for a while after Alucard left, Trevor used the quiet, peaceful moment to consider a few things. Alucard wasn’t completely broken. Sure, he trusted even less than he already had, and he had killed two people. He was angry and hurt, unstable, ready to snap, like a stray dog kicked just one time too many. Yet he could still be in the same room as Trevor and not go off the rails and try to kill him - Trevor hadn’t even seen the floating sword, though he knew it was probably somewhere close. 

This could be fixed. All hope was not to be abandoned quite yet.

When drunken sleepiness started to overcome him, he decided he would have to find somewhere to curl up until morning. There had to be more bedrooms available than the one Alucard slept in, as he had had guests recently, after all. Trevor got to his feet and followed in the direction he had seen Alucard wander off in. He tried a few doors, only to find them all locked. The only one he was able to open was quite obviously Alucard’s own room, his golden halo of his hair spread out across the pillows reflecting light from a dying fire in the hearth. Tired and not wanting to wander aimlessly in corridors filled with locked doors for the rest of the evening, Trevor looked around the room and decided that the chair by the fire would have to do. If Alucard didn’t want him there, he just had to wake up and show him to another room. Which was unlikely to happen, as drunk as he had been.

Sitting down, he removed his bracers and kicked off his boots, making himself as comfortable as possible. Staring into the fire, he felt his eyelids grow heavy, before settling into a restless sleep.

A while later, altogether too soon, he realized he was awake again, stirred by distressed whimpers coming from the bed, from Alucard. Stoking the nearly dead fire, throwing another log into it, he managed to raise the level of ambient light within the room. Getting to his feet, he stalked over to the bed, looking down at the vampire still very much deep asleep, though obviously caught in a nightmare, hair plastered to his sweaty forehead, his eyes moving rapidly behind his eyelids. 

Sitting down on the edge of the bed carefully, Trevor ran the back of his palm down the side of Alucard’s face, intent on calming him, not expecting the vampire’s eyes to fly open, unseeing and tinted red. Before he knew it, he was on his back in the bed, pushed down by a furious vampire out of his mind. Recognizing it as remnants of the nightmare, he stilled himself, calmed his heartbeat after his heart did a roll in his chest, intent on letting Alucard regain control, take control. Holding his breath, he waited. Waited until he saw recognition form in the vampire’s eyes. 

“...Trevor?” Adrian asked, his fingers unfurling shakily from his death-grip around Trevor’s throat, the red fading from his eyes, replaced by regret.

“Yes. You were having a nightmare.”

Alucard’s hands let go of him, as if burnt, fingers again clasping around his own wrist, touching the scars. _Fuck those fucking fuckers on the doorstep._ If they hadn’t been dead already, Trevor would have killed them all over again. 

“I’m... sorry. If you get too close to me, you will get hurt eventually.”

It was such a pathetic thing to come from Alucard, but Trevor made another realization at that moment. Everyone close to Alucard had died miserably, somehow, and he thought it was his bloody fault. So he shut people out to keep them safe, kept them at distance for their own good - not because he ever wanted to be alone. No, in actuality Alucard craved company, _needed_ it to keep his sanity, but he cared more for other people than he did for himself.

“ _Fuck_ …” Trevor muttered under his breath. He lifted his arms, grabbing hold of Alucard’s hips, making him aware of the position he was in, straddled across Trevor’s hips. “Do I look like I break easily, Adrian-fucking-Ţepeş ? I’m battle-scarred, marked in every possible way by the life I live, but I always get back up no matter what this accursed world throws at me. Sypha is the same, and the more she learns, the stronger she becomes. Did you know, _Adrian_ , she’s become fucking scary, a prime example of a battle mage if I ever saw one. You are not going to push us away just because we’re going to die some time in the far-fucking-future. I’ll fucking make sure there’s always a Belmont or a Belnades around to bother you, be it ten or hundreds of years from now. You’re not getting rid of us that easily.” 

Becoming more and more aware of the vampire in his lap, Trevor had to stop his tirade and draw his breath, feeling a bit flustered. Sypha was many things, but someone equal to him in strength and build she was not - though fucking scary indeed. She was soft curves where Alucard was hard edges, and right now all he could think of was the difference between them, and how much his body seemed to crave it.

Alucard was staring down at him silently, but his eyes had changed as Trevor had spoken. The regret was melting away, the furrow between his eyebrows lessening. Grabbing Alucard’s wrist, Trevor pulled it closer to his face, before letting his tongue flick out, licking across the scarred, raised skin. Alucard pulled back, as if burnt, but Trevor refused to let go. “Use me to erase everything they did to you, however you want,” he pleaded. “You’re not alone. If I ever need to leave again, I’ll _always_ be back. You’ll never be alone again, as long as I live.”


	6. Chapter 6

The answering hiss Trevor’s words earned him seemed equal part shock, equal part want on Alucard’s part, sprinkled with a hefty dose of trepidation - most likely shock that someone would say something like that as freely as Trevor did, and want of it, want of touch, of closeness, of being cared for. The trepidation, it also spoke truths. Along with what little Alucard had divulged, it made it possible for Trevor to make a few conjectures, and feel near certain he was right. The dead fucks had been to bed with Alucard, most likely to catch him when vulnerable, unarmed and unprepared. They’d used his vulnerability to harm him, damage him. 

_Motherfuckers_. 

Fucking _motherfuckers_.

Running his fingers up Alucard’s arm, he followed the scar from the wrist up to the elbow, as far as he could reach. Whatever the item the pair had used was, it had seared skin all the way up, like a holy rope-burn. Even his whip couldn’t do something like that to Alucard - it had to have been a powerful combination of magic, silver and holy blessings. Fingers settled across the line just below Alucar’s elbow, running languidly across it, intent on providing comfort.

“Don’t,” Alucard started, voice wavering. “It’s ugly. Unsightly.”

Trevor just laughed, pointing to the scar lining his own face. “Unlike this?” He pulled at the hem of his shirt, revealing his abdomen and an assortment of scars. “Or these? Pfft, we’re warriors. Scars are expected. Every one is a wound we’ve survived, another day lived. Badges of honour.” Before Alucard could stop him, he’d grabbed the hem of Alucard’s shirt and pulled it up as well. The same brand ran criss-cross across his torso, fading, but there. Shifting his attention, he let fingers follow the pink lines, causing muscle to twitch underneath the tips of his fingers. “As if anything as trivial as this would make you any less… perfect.” Beautiful, bewitching, enthralling. To Trevor, Alucard was all of it.

At Trevor’s words, something in Alucard changed, and he sank heavier against Trevor. His head closer, his face closer, he stared Trevor in the eyes. “Never lie to me, Belmont.”

“When did I ever? Whenever you pissed me off, I’d always make sure you knew. The same way, when I say I want you, I mean it. You can always trust me to be a blunt dick. Holding back or playing at deceiving was never my strong suit, as you very well know.” It was true, half the time he had wandered around alone, he hadn’t even been able to hide the fact that his last name was Belmont, even though it never brought him anything but trouble. “I tell you I think you’re hotter than the sun, I mean it. And you are.”

Hands again settling at Alucard’s hips, thumbs rubbing circles against naked skin, Trevor grinned. “Right now I want to touch you every bit of you, and I’d let you do anything you want to me in return.” He smiled, understanding that Alucard would need to be in control of whatever happened next, whenever it happened. He really didn’t mind, not today. Not tomorrow, not until Alucard had become Alucard wholly again.

“You really mean it.” It wasn’t a question, just a simple statement. 

“I do,” Trevor said, chuckling. It felt somewhat weird to have to appear to be the more stable one of them, Alucard always played at being in perfect control. Now his edges seemed ragged, sharp and broken. As if he was teetering on an edge. Trevor was doing what he felt he could to tether him instead. 

Alucard blinked a few times, his thought processes physically visible. Then something seemed to click into place, as he visibly made up his mind. “Betray me, and it’s you on a stake out there.”

“Nah, Fangs. Not happening, there’s another type of impalement I much prefer to that sort of torture.” Trevor was aware that he might be just a little drunk still, but his offer was genuine, though crudely worded. “Though… You really look like you need a good night’s sleep. When was the last time you slept properly?”

Shadows of pain and frustration returned to Alucard’s eyes, his hands gripping at Trevor’s shirt. “Gresit. Before Gresit.”

No wonder he looked fractured and splintered. Going that long without proper sleep would drive the strongest of them insane. “Damn. Oh fuck… Anything else can wait, you need to sleep.” Trevor reached up and twined his hand in Alucard’s hair, using the leverage to gently pull him closer, pulling him down to his chest. “Come on, sleep. I’ll be your pillow, and though I fear I am not a very comfortable one, I’ll at least be a warm one.” Maneuvering Alucard to his side, head still resting against Trevor’s torso, he wrapped his arm around him, petting the golden hair, running his fingers through it comfortingly. “Tomorrow we can talk more.”

Adrian instinctively wanted to shy away from Trevor, but the fingers in his hair was a reassurance, and the steady heartbeat under his ear was oddly hypnotizing. He felt his eyes pulled closed by it, a command to sleep given with every rhythmic beat. His fingers curled against Trevor’s chest before slowly relaxing as his body was slowly coaxed into sleep.

Trevor pulled Adrian’s sleeping form even closer, pulling a blanket awkwardly over them, his feet left cold but of no importance. Alucard needed, deserved a good night’s sleep, and he could sacrifice some of his own comfort for the sake of things to come.

Alucard’s skin both chilled and warm against his, chilled where it was touched by the night air, warm where Trevor’s own heated his, had long been part of Trevor’s dreams, so closing his eyes, he let the dark of night and deep sleep consume him, the echoes of touches with him in his dreams all the way until morning.


	7. Chapter 7

Morning came slowly, waking up a drawn out sensation, from deep sleep, to realizing he felt warm, to feeling something draped heavily across his chest, to remembering who and where he was, to opening his eyes and noticing the golden halo of hair fanned out across his chest. 

Alucard was still sleeping soundly plastered to Trevor’s side, his breath even, his skin no longer sweat-slicked by nightmares. Feeling a smile spread across his own face, Trevor picked up a few strands, twining it between his fingers. So pretty. 

The movement stirred Alucard, his eyelashes fluttering before his eyes opened slowly, heavy with sleep and a little confusion. Lifting his head, he looked up at Trevor.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Trevor greeted him. “Feel better?”

Blinking, Alucard looked lost for words. “I, uh… I really did sleep? Like this?”   


“All night long, no more nightmares. See, I’m good at chasing monsters away, in both reality and your dreams.” Chuckling, Trevor, untangled his arms and hands from Alucard, letting the dazed vampire sit up.

Adrian really didn’t know what to say. All what Trevor was offering, the sensation of feeling completely rested for the first time in a long while, it was all so much. Moving off the bed in silence, his mind kept turning, and it indeed felt easier to think than in what seemed like forever. 

He felt Trevor’s eyes on him as he moved, watchful, but smiling. It was a heavy weight, grounding him. Telling him the same as Trevor’s words had. Trevor wanted him,  _ desired _ him, didn’t care he was a vampire, didn’t really much mind the corpses outside - more than likely he would have killed them himself if they weren’t already dead, for what they did. There was so much truth in that gaze.

Standing up, shaking his head, he put it all aside for a moment. “Come with me, I’ll make you breakfast.” It was the least he could offer in return for the good night’s sleep. 

Padding barefoot back to the kitchen, he heard Trevor rise behind him. Pulling bread, some pieces of dried sausage and butter from a drawer, he placed the food on the table. From the cold storage he grabbed a pair of bottles of weak ale, knowing Trevor would appreciate it. Sitting down, he broke off some of the bread for himself and buttered it. Chewing, he opened the bottles, handing Trevor one as soon as he stepped inside. 

Alucard’s cheeks stuffed with bread as he chewed made him look like the fanciest hamster ever, and Trevor couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. Accepting the beer, he sat down by the table. “Damn. I knew you ate, but you never looked that hungry when we travelled.”

Adrian stopped chewing for a moment, then swallowed. “I never had the time to care. Whatever we got was good enough. I eat, but I’m not as dependent on it as humans.” The ‘I have a different source of nourishment to rely on as well’ he left implied, unspoken. He hadn’t resorted to that in ages, only ever wanting to indulge in it when it was offered freely, yet having been forced to at a few instances when fighting powerful enemies - but then it had been their blood he consumed.

Trevor also grabbed a piece of the bread, washing it down with the ale. “It’s good bread. How come there’s something like that available here when the nearest baker is miles away?”

“...I made it a few days ago.” 

Trevor swore a slight blush crept across Alucard’s nose. His jaw dropped. “You bake?”

“I… I like making food, always did. Mother taught me. Took it up again after you left, gave me something to do to while some time away. Also, I do  _ like _ food.”

Trevor blinked. You learn something new every day, truly. Well, he wasn’t one to complain, travelling to the castle he’d been eating whatever the inns he had stayed over at served, and he could attest to the fact that not all stews became better after hanging over the fire all day, far from. The bread was still crisp, even after a few days. Grabbing another bite, he filled up, and emptied the bottle of ale. “We have work to do today,” he said, studying Alucard.

The vampire stopped chewing again, but then he nodded. “It’s time.” He finished chewing, then got up from the chair and started putting away the food. 

Trevor joined him, putting the utensils they’d used in a basin on the counter. Alucard suddenly left the kitchen, so he followed quickly, down the hallway. Another door had been left open and he found Alucard inside what was pretty much an indoor tool-shed. He was pulling a shovel from a hook on the wall, and handed it to Trevor. Grabbing another one as well, he headed into the main hall, so Trevor trailed after him again.

“Where do you want…?” Trevor started, stopping dead when Alucard halted in his tracks, looking at him from under his hair.

“Far. I don’t want to remember them, don’t want to see them - ever again.”

Trevor could understand that sentiment, seeing the burnt out, dilapidated Belmont-estate always made his heart skip a beat. Avoiding it was harder than digging a pair of graves far away, hidden beneath a mountain and trees throwing dark shade, though. There was also the hope that he could rebuild one day - the pair could never be brought back to life and sent away.

On Alucard’s command the doors cracked open enough for them to leave the castle. Once they were outside, they silently closed behind them again. Trevor started heading down the stairs, though soon realizing Alucard had stopped again, staring both at the two impaled corpses, and at something far, far in the distance. Trevor reached out his hand for him, calling his name, pulling his attention away from the corpses. “Alucard. Let’s dig first. They’re not moving anywhere quite yet.”

When Alucard actually took the offered hand, Trevor’s heart did a joyous flip, despite the horrific errand they were out on. Smiling, he stopped them both. Looking down, he laughed. “Alucard, are you aware you’re not wearing any boots?”

Adrian looked down as well, realizing Trevor was right. He’d forgotten his boots in the bedroom. A broken laugh escaped him, before he handed Trevor his shovel. “Hold this, I’ll be right back.”

\---

They chose a secluded clearing almost thirty minutes walk from the castle for the graves, and did quick work of digging the holes, both shovelling in silence. Transporting the corpses was another thing entirely, less messy than could have been since the sun and winds had dried them up almost entirely, leaving them close to mummified, but Trevor saw that Alucard struggled. Pulling them from the stakes and wrapping them up in canvas, his eyes had become red-rimmed, though he didn’t cry openly. His hands were shaking visibly.

“You still care for them, despite everything,” Trevor stated, softly. “I told you, not a monster.”

Hiding behind his hair, Adrian huffed, consciously trying to still his hands. “Let’s get this done with.”

“Sure.” Hoisting the canvas roll over his shoulder, Trevor headed towards the clearing again, Alucard soon following him. 

\---

With the corpses in the ground, they filled up the graves, the earthen mounds the only sign of what lay beneath. Adrian called his sword, and when it appeared, he commanded it to carve an ‘S’ in one tree, a ‘T’ in another. It was all the only memorial they would get; Sumi and Taka. From now on, they would become only memories, ghosts of the past.

A wind swept through the clearing, rustling grass, speaking of the lateness of the sun’s travel towards night. Standing up straight, he looked directly at Trevor. “Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the one in which burying your bodies seems oddly domestic.


	8. Chapter 8

Outside the castle they stopped, the ground where the stakes had stood still wounded, dark, rotting blood staining the earth. Trevor picked up the stakes, violently breaking the wood into smaller pieces, placing them in piles above the scarred earth. “Burn them," he said to Alucard. “Let fire erase.”

Calling forth fire, Adrian watched the piles ignite, soon burning with a passion. Trevor had wandered over to the steps and sat down, so Adrian joined him. Sitting down he placed his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his palms, fingers curled against his cheeks. Staring into the fire, he sat like for a long while, in complete silence, becoming very aware of the man by his side, the man never able to not be an imposing presence. Trevor Belmont certainly was no wallflower. Sighing, he tilted to the side, his head landing on Trevor’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

Trevor huffed, pointedly looking away, though he couldn’t completely hide the heat that settled across the bridge of his nose. “Whatever for?”

“For everything,” Adrian said, quietly. “For wanting to save me. For saving me.” He pushed back a wave of tears trying to push their way forth, knowing Trevor would probably panic if he let them fall. Trevor Belmont excelled in many things, but dealing well with certain emotions wasn’t one of them - and though Adrian was fully capable of expressing his emotions, he didn’t much like it either, especially not in front of others. Smiling, albeit somewhat wistfully and forced, he sat back up, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. “I’m filthy and sweaty. You’re equally dirty. Come on, I’ll show you something.”

Leaving the fires to burn out, he turned and walked up the steps, the doors opening in welcome of their master as soon as he stepped onto the top platform. Trevor stepped after, following Alucard inside, where they paused to reignite the fires heating the great hall, before Alucard led Trevor down a long hallway and down a winding staircase. They went through a few doors, but suddenly one opened into a giant, brightly lit bath, a sunken pool in the floor filled with warm water, if the steamy air was anything to judge from. The room was basically a miniature roman bath. 

“How’s this even possible?” Trevor heard himself asking, astounded by the room hidden away in the depths of the castle. 

“Don’t ask,” Alucard answered with a laugh. “Remember, this place is a magical, transporting castle unbound by restraints such as even time. There are quite a lot of rooms whose functions even I can’t fathom yet. This is one of the simpler mysteries - when the castle lands somewhere it buries itself deep enough to pull from the area’s groundwater. How the water is pulled, I’m still not a hundred percent on, but there is running water in several areas of the building, similar to a system of miniature aqueducts. In this room the water is even heated, from what I can tell, the pipes leading it here run close to many of the fireplaces in the castle, where it draws the heat from them. The insulation around this room so deep in the bowels of the castle manages to keep it heated for an extended period of time.”

“Magic - got it.” Trevor chuckled. He had in fact understood most of the explanation, he just didn’t care to commit any of it to memory when the water looked profoundly inviting. Stepping closer, he quickly pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it to the side. Kicking off his boots first, he quickly undid his trousers and let them fall from his hips. Naked, he turned to Alucard. “I’m going in.”

Adrian couldn’t help but stare. So Trevor had told him he found him attractive, pretty even - but taking in the sight of the naked hunter he couldn’t help but think that it was the other way around. Sure, when they’d met he’d berated Trevor for his appearance, and most certainly for his… odour. He did clean up quite well though, and even though he was sweaty and grimy after the work they’d done, he looked... He looked carved from stone, hard and weathered. Scars marked him all over, but particularly his arms - probably where he’d blocked incoming attacks that’d managed to get past his whips and sword. His skin was darkened by the sun where the sun would touch it, and paler in other places. For a man his size and complexion he was surprisingly bare of hair, only the shadow of a beard and a trail pointing downwards from his belly button visible from that distance. Adrian didn’t dare look lower, already feeling like his gaze was an intrusion.

Looking away, he undressed, letting his own clothes fall to the ground as well. They were dirty and needed cleaning anyway. Following Trevor into the warm water, he found one of the underwater benches that were built into the pool and sat down, the water all the way to his shoulders. The back of his head rested against the edge of the pool, and he closed his eyes, relaxing. A sigh escaped him before he could stop it. 

Trevor watched him, saw the tension in his shoulders give. No matter how hard today’s task had been on Alucard, it had been the right thing to do, it was clearly visible in his face. Even the deep furrow between his eyes seemed to lessen, and the tension around his eyes disappeared.

Not much else of him was visible above the water, and his hair floated around him, obscuring him even more. Having gotten a good look at his naked form as Alucard stepped into the pool, Trevor wanted to touch, wanted it so much. Dunking his head under water, he tried to banish the thought. It didn’t help, and he soon ran out of air, having to resurface. Wiping wet hair out of his face, he realized Alucard was now staring at him, eyes… different. Scrutinizing.

“What?” Trevor challenged. 

“Oh, nothing.”

“Nothing, my ass. What are you thinking of?” Water still dripping into his eyes, he wiped his face again, only to laugh when Alucard evaded the question by copying his own actions. The blond head disappeared underwater, hair floating on the surface like pale seaweed - until Alucard suddenly seemed to disappear, swimming closer. He reemerged right in front of Trevor, only his head above water, looking like a nix prowling its prey.

In a splash of water, he suddenly stood up, towering above Trevor. Shaking out his hair, he gave Trevor a good soaking again. 

Trevor looked up, realizing just how close he was to some really interesting parts of Alucard, even though the water still obscured most. He did instead get to take in the full range of the brands, no shirt obscuring the sight. “What’re you up to,” he asked, lifting an eyebrow in question.

Staying put where he stood, Alucard simply reached up, gathered his hair and wrung it out. Most of the water gone, he quickly braided it, nimble fingers dividing and twining it until it hung in place across his shoulder. Hands stilled, still holding the braid, he finally looked down at Trevor- and smiled, _genuinely_ , eyes twinkling mischievously. 

“Oh, _fuck me_ …,” Trevor breathed.

The corners of Alucard’s mouth twisted up even further, fangs suddenly showing. “You did offer… Does it still stand?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting there, getting there. Taking some liberties with the castle here, pay no mind.
> 
> How was it? Next few chapters are _filthy_.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'll be posting the rest of the chapters in quick succession now, as I feel bad splitting the fun part into several pieces.
> 
> What do you think about it so far?

Gaping like a fish on dry land, Trevor didn’t respond initially - couldn’t respond, his mouth having gone bone dry. Instead he reached out, grabbed Alucard’s hips and pulled him closer. He ended up resting his chin against Alucard’s belly, hands on his hips. Breathing in deeply, the clean scent of the vampire made the tips of his fingers tingle, a shiver running down his spine.

Struggling to find his voice he growled, “You better fucking believe it. You were always fucking hot, Alucard, but you seem to be constantly underestimating the impact you have on people. You think people can’t like you because you sometimes got fangs and claws, but you’ve just not considered the right people. Fuck, I should’ve done this a long time ago.” Flicking his tongue out, he ran it across the hard plane of Alucard’s abdomen, dipping into his bellybutton, painting a tortuous path across skin.

Adrian’s hand found its way into Trevor’s wet hair, tangling, pulling, tilting his head back until the hunter was looking up at him properly, bright blue eyes seeing only him. Mind calmer with his ghosts now gone and buried, Adrian had tried to sort his emotions while relaxing in the bath, but had soon come to realize it was an impossible task, as he was constantly aware of the other person in there with him, no matter how hard he’d tried ignoring his presence. It had led to one thing only standing out in perfect clarity to him - he wanted what Trevor offered, particularly the promise of both him and Sypha back in his life. He didn’t want to be alone. Having seen Trevor undressed had sent a pang of need through him, and the constant presence of him beside Adrian never let that ember settle. With Trevor’s hands now on his skin, the ember flared, and he felt his own breath speed up, felt the fire roar, sparks flying along nerve paths. 

“Not here,” he breathed. “Come.” Hand in Trevor’s hair, he pulled him to his feet, before starting to backtrack out of the pool, Trevor’s hands still on his hips. Walking was awkward, but he didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to lose the warm touch on his skin. Feeling for the steps leading up and out of the water with his feet, he managed to make it to dry land without stumbling. There, he was halted in his tracks by Trevor wrapping his arms around him in earnest, pulling him so close he could make out every edge and dip of the other’s naked form. 

Trevor’s mouth found Alucard’s, warm, wet and demanding, the kiss harsh and rough-edged, showing no care for the sharp teeth nicking his lips, not until he tasted his own blood. Watching the vampire, Trevor noticed Alucard’s eyes glazing over, looking distant yet staring straight into his own. Wanting to break him down and build him up better, Trevor leaned further into the kiss, _f_ _uck his bleeding lip_. Let Alucard have a taste of him, let him crave more, crave it all.

Trevor’s blood was intoxicating, though whether in itself or because of some outside influence, Adrian didn’t know, and he didn’t care. He just wanted more of it. Bringing his hands up to cup Trevor’s face, he leaned into the kiss, hungering. Mind silenced, all he could focus on was the faint taste of blood on his tongue and the feeling of Trevor’s scruffy chin in his hands. He could drown himself in it, stop the wheels in his mind from turning for a while, stop having to reason, he could let go of it all - but a voice in the back of his mind reminded him they had been headed somewhere in a hurry. Taking a deep breath, he pulled away slightly, the move made difficult by Trevor’s mouth following his. “Bed,” was all he managed before Trevor was kissing him again.

Then Trevor’s hands were on under his ass, lifting him up. All he could do was wrap his legs around Trevor’s hips, lock his arms together behind his head. Trevor might just be a fraction shorter than himself, but he was all muscle, all strength, carrying Adrian without much trouble. 

Alucard was tall enough to obscure Trevor’s field of vision as he headed back up the hallway, but Trevor didn’t much care - he needed to get to the bedroom as soon as possible. “Duck down a bit,” was all he managed to say, Alucard’s naked skin against his own driving him crazy, any patience he ever was in possession of gone with the wind. 

Adrian tucked his head into the nook of Trevor’s neck trying to keep out of his line of sight. Breathing deeply, he took in the scent of the hunter, still there after the bath, but fresher, cleaner, crisper. Warm skin against his face and a steady pulse beneath. Dangerous. Fangs reacting, he let them rest flat against the skin. At the touch of teeth against skin, Trevor’s hands tightened against his flesh, thumbs digging into muscle. Flicking his tongue against the pulse-point, Adrian had Trevor swearing again, the stream of profanities almost pleading in nature, and definitely impatient. 

The hallway was too long, the stairs too steep and winding - but finally they reached the bedroom. Unceremoniously, Trevor dumped Alucard onto the sheets, laughing when the vampire swore.

“ _Fuck!_ Get back here,” Adrian hissed, wanting to be enveloped in Trevor’s warmth again, wanting to touch every part of him. 

“As you command,” Trevor teased, crawling after him, on top of him. Leaning in for another kiss, he grabbed hold of Alucard and rolled them over, leaving the vampire straddled across his hips, mirroring the position from the previous night.

Then Alucard’s hands were on him, exploring, roaming across skin, touching _everywhere._ Trevor still half expected coolness from the vampire’s touches, but there was none, instead Alucard’s fingers seared his skin as they traced paths of intricate design, mapping each and every one of his scars. They both seemed to have a vested interest in the other’s battle-scars.

Alucard’s golden hair, darkened by dampness, fell like a wave across his shoulder, the braid quickly undoing itself. Wet, it still shone in the fire’s light, and Trevor ran his hands through it, watching intently as the ends slipped between his fingers. Beautiful - there was no other word that could describe it perfectly.

Shifting his attention back to the brands marring Alucard’s skin, Trevor again registered the odd symmetry of them, the criss-cross across his arms, torso and abdomen, winding downwards. They were… interesting. Tracing the marks with his fingers again, Trevor concentrated on the ones crossing Alucard’s torso and belly. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he wrapped his arm around Alucard’s waist, pulling himself close. Resting his ear against Alucard’s chest, he listened to his heartbeat. It was slower than a normal human’s, but it was there, and it was as uneven and dancing as his own right then. Turning in, Trevor ran his tongue along one of the marks, the palm of his hand flat against the top of Alucard’s back to keep him in place.

Wrapping his arms around Trevor’s neck, running sharp nails through the hair at the nape of his neck, Adrian leaned in, locking eyes with the hunter. “Stop me if I go too far.” Trevor’s touches were fuel to his fire, and he wasn’t sure how much control he’d be able to retain for how much longer. 

Trevor’s eyes darkened as he looked up, locking eyes with Alucard, black drowning out blue. “I’ll take whatever you’ve got to give. Just get to it.”


	10. Chapter 10

Trevor Belmont trusted him - or at least he thought he could take him out if he went too far. Still feeling a bit inimical to the world and everyone in it, Adrian wondered for a moment how far that trust truly went. Tilting Trevor’s head to the side, on impulse he ran a claw sharp enough to draw blood against his skin, leaving a red trail in its wake. He’d thought Belmont would pull away, though he would react badly. Instead his eyes fluttered closed and he tilted his head into the pain on his own. Adrian’s heart did a flip, landing hard, skipping a beat. _Fuck_.

Leaning in, he ran his tongue along the welt, tasting blood on his tongue again. _So good_. He could feel his body react to it, feel wounds wanting to knit, scars wanting to fade. If he’d drunk from a human, the scars would have faded quickly, but he couldn’t. Couldn’t become the monster his father had been. Instead he bore the pain of the brands, leaving them to heal on their own, which had turned out to be a slow process. 

The taste was still more than enough to make every part of him tingle, crave for more, for him to _want_. Enough for his vampiric instincts to stir. Needing the bloodlust to be countermanded, he let the other instinct in him have free reigns, beating it down. Growling, he moved to capture Belmont’s lips in a harsh kiss. This was another want, another sort of craving. Fingers curled against Trevor’s neck, holding him in place, he took what he had been offered. 

When strong fingers, calloused, battle-hardened and worn, experienced, made their way to wrap themselves around his cock, his breath caught in his throat. A voice at the back of his mind screamed he shouldn't trust it, but that touch was so different from _theirs._ Where theirs had been taking, Trevor’s was giving. Deliberately tilting into Trevor’s touch, he gave his consent, his acceptance, silencing the voice with all his might. They were gone, so that vexing voice could just fucking join them in Hell.

Trevor’s other hand drifted across Adrian’s abdomen, the feather-light touches causing taut muscles to twitch, anticipate. Any apprehension Adrian held vanished, chased away by the warm touches. This was Trevor- _fucking_ -Belmont touching him. The Trevor Belmont that had begrudgingly decided to trust the fate of the world in Adrian’s hands. If he’d ever wanted to betray him, he’d already had a world of chances. 

Scooting a bit further back on Trevor’s thighs, Adrian dropped his hands to mirror Trevor’s actions. The hardness between them wasn’t in any way a lie, and as soon as he wrapped his fingers around naked, velvety skin a stream of curses and endearments escaped Belmont, the words as close to a prayer the hunter would ever venture. He begged and pleaded, his words liquid warmth trickling down Adrian’s spine. For a moment he wondered if Sypha had ever seen this side to Trevor. For some reason he doubted it, unable to imagine him letting go of his control in the same way if with a woman. 

Moving further back again, Adrian removed himself from Trevor’s touches, instead leaning in to lick a line down Trevor’s sternum, past his bellybutton and ever downwards. He felt Trevor holding his breath, muscle tight beneath his mouth. His hands stroked Trevor’s thighs, up, across his hip-bones, thumbs rubbing circles, before moving to wrap around around the base of his cock. Trevor instantly arched into the touch. 

When Alucard had licked his way all the way down, he stopped for a moment, looking up at Trevor. Slowly, the corners of his mouth twisted up in a hungry grin, fangs extended, dangerous. Trevor’s mind halted, stumbled, before trying for a ‘ _fuck no_ ’ , but his cock didn’t agree, having developed a mind of its own, twitching in anticipation. “Careful,” Trevor hissed, half closing his eyes, grinning nervously. 

The laugh Alucard let slip wasn’t exactly reassuring, but the sensation of his tongue sliding along the underside of Trevor’s cock from base to tip vanished all doubts. The teeth were there, but perfectly controlled. When the mouth wrapped around him fully, all he could think of was wet heat, the pressure of a tongue against skin, and the building tension at the base of his spine. 

Trevor groaned, any other thought erased from his mind. “Fuck me, vampire.”

“Ask nicely, Belmont.” There was a certain amount of mirth in Alucard’s muffled voice, tinged with lust and… happiness. 

Trevor couldn’t believe Alucard had answered him with his cock still in his mouth. “Fuck me, _Adrian_ ,” he managed, barely. 

Still not a question, but it was the nicest Trevor Belmont was capable of being, and hearing his true name spoken in that low, gravely rumble was enough, more than enough. Adrian could listen to Trevor Belmont talk all day - very likely one of the reasons why he had never been able to not prod and poke him verbally, goading him into hissing some profanity back at him. “Say it again,” he demanded, mouth still busy. 

“Fuck me, Adrian. Adrian- _fucking_ -Țepeș.”

Who could deny such a request? Adrian’s only wish at that moment was to sink deeply into Trevor, to drown in him, but he knew enough to realize it wouldn’t be that easy. Though Trevor could take pain, there was no need to cause it unduly. Some pains were good and some were bad. He’d had enough of the bad pains, both his own and others’, for a while. What could he use? Looking around the room he pondered his predicament. Ah, that was it. “A moment.” 

Getting off the bed, he quickly made his way over to where his sword rested on a dresser. He kept its cleaning supplies close, and there was a vial of oil hidden somewhere close by, the one he used to oil the blade of his sword. Finding it and palming it, he hurried back to the bed. Crawling back onto it, he settled back into the spot he had just occupied, between Trevor’s legs. Running a palm up the length of one leg, over strong muscles, defined, over battle-scarred skin, he read it, a story written in scars and old wounds - Trevor had not gotten to where he was in life unmarred, as neither had Adrian. 

Trevor reached for Alucard, hooking his hand behind the back of his head, pulling him closer, into a kiss. Mouths hot on each other, he licked the faint trace of blood from Alucard’s lips, tasting himself. For something so unnatural, it wasn’t unpleasant, a slight metallic taste in his mouth, similar to times where he’d suckled a finger after cutting it. He didn’t mind it at all. “Get going,” he growled against Alucard’s ear. “You’re too slow.” He really wasn’t a patient man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry.


	11. Chapter 11

Popping the top off the vial, Adrian let a slow trickle of the oil fill his palm, slick and slippery, heating it in his hand. Closing the container back up, he tossed it to the side, not caring where it disappeared off to. Tilting his hand he let to fluid drip from his palm onto Trevor’s cock, watching as it trailed down, between his spread legs. Using his dry hand he hitched up Trevor’s leg so he could watch the clear fluid make its way downwards. 

The still-slicked hand he wrapped around his own cock, giving it a few languid strokes, coating it in oil. On his knees between Trevor’s legs, he moved as close as he could, urging Trevor to spread his legs, to lock his feet behind Adrian’s thighs. His long fingers wrapped around both of their cocks, stroking, moving across skin against skin. 

Trevor swore beneath him, hips angling up, into the touch. “More,” he hissed, demanding, commanding. 

Adrian didn’t want to let go, but after a few more strokes, he pulled far enough away to snake a hand between them, searching out Trevor’s entrance. The slick had trailed down, and his finger pushed past muscle with ease. Another soon followed, and Trevor groaned as they sank into him, stretching him open.

Leaning down, Adrian licked Trevor’s length again, tasting him. Running his tongue across the slit at the head, he savoured both the taste and the resounding moan it pulled from Trevor. Sinking down, he took in as much as he could, almost burying his nose against Trevor’s abdomen, mouth filled with cock, the blunt head hitting the back of his throat. 

Trevor’s hands tangled in Adrian’s hair, fingers flexing, nails scraping bluntly against his scalp. He felt Trevor trying to hold back, his control fragile. He wanted to break it, ruin it, see Trevor come undone. Searching, he moved his fingers in unison with his mouth, until he found the spot that made Trevor tilt his hips upward, into Adrians mouth. Trevor’s grip on Adrian’s head tightened, and his mouth snapped shut, an expression of almost-excruciation twisting his face. 

Trevor felt his throat close up, along with every other muscle in his body tensing up like a vise. He wouldn’t have been able to make a sound if he wanted to, barely even able to breathe. He was so close, so goddamned close, yet he tried to hold back, tried holding on that exact sensation, until the difficulty breathing started to overcome him, darkness seeping into the edges of his consciousness, stars dancing across the inside of his eyelids.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he breathed with the last of his breath, weak and broken, as he crashed, the tension giving, the pressure rushing through him like a shivering wildfire. Not able to hold back, he pushed into Alucard’s mouth one last time, spilling across his tongue. 

Eyes fluttering open as his breathing evened out, he watched Alucard pull away, come still in his mouth. Instead of spitting it out, as Trevor had expected him to do, Alucard removed his fingers from Trevor’s ass and sat up. Grabbing Trevor by the back of his head, Alucard pulled him up into a sitting position. On his knees between Trevor’s legs, Alucard was still taller, and when he tilted his head down towards Trevor, he realized what Alucard wanted. Oh _mercy_ , the vampire had a kinky streak. 

Arching up, reaching for Alucard, Trevor pulled him down into a kiss. Instantly his mouth was flooded with the taste of his own come, sticky and salty in his mouth, and so fucking hot. Alucard’s hand at the small of his neck held him in place, even as he almost collapsed back onto the bed, lust coiling down his spine, heavy and bright as the kiss drew on. When Alucard finally let go of him, he instantly sank back down against the bed, swallowing hard. “ _Fucking hell…_ Who on Earth showed you something like that?”.

“Never you mind,” Adrian answered, grinning wet and wickedly. “I think you said something like ‘ _fuck me_ ’ just a moment ago.” Hand on his own cock, he gave it a few strokes, feeling it harden even further, grow heavier in his hand, slick between his fingers. “I’m holding you to it.”

Trevor stared, wide-eyed, Alucard’s words and demeanor more than enough to wake his cock right back up, the thought of Alucard’s cock filling the space his fingers had just occupied enough for him to groan. “How do you want me?”

“On your knees, Belmont.” Alucard’s command was low, dark and carried the promise of everything Trevor wanted right then.

Sitting up, he moved, turning around and getting on his knees. The warmth of Alucard moving in close behind him, the touch of his cock against his entrance, his hand gripping Trevor’s hip tightly, it all felt so good, so right. He sent a mental ‘thank you’ to Sypha for seeing how he’d wanted this, for letting him have it, for sending him there. He loved her ten times more for it.

Adrian steadied himself, cock in hand, head aligned with Trevor’s entrance. Holding his breath he pushed, sinking slowly into all-consuming tightness and heat. Bottoming out, he let go of a shaky breath, drawing another through his nose. Even t _hat_ had almost been enough to overcome him, but he wanted everything to last, wanted to stay buried in Trevor forever. How long had it been since he’d felt like that? Had he ever felt like that? If he had been even close, it had been during short encounters in his late teens, with people who’d only come to him for this one thing, people who found his looks striking, misguided people enamoured with his vampire ancestry. People who turned a blind eye to the vampires’ ravaging of the human population, coming to him seeking an immortality he wouldn’t give them. There had been a few that had straight up offered him sex, some even in earnestness. He’d taken them up on their offers on a few occasions. But Trevor, like this? Nothing compared. 

Hands on Trevor’s hips, he started moving, thrusts slow and deep, the pull of Trevor surrounding him so tightly enough to speed his breath, to force him to concentrate, teeth clenched and head tilted forward. The view of his own cock sinking deep into Trevor’s ass, skin stretched taut around it, was something he’d remember for eternity.

Suddenly he realized Trevor was moaning beneath him, the sounds pushed between his clenched teeth with every thrust. Sweat slicked his skin, the hair at the nape of his neck sticking to his skin. Every moan sounded like a different profanity, a different plea. Wanting to hear each and everyone of them, Adrian grabbed Trevor’s shoulder, pulling him onto his knees, flush against his own chest.

Trevor’s head lolled back, coming to rest on Alucard’s shoulder. Tilting his face to the side, he buried it against the vampire’s neck, just below his ear.

Adrian moved again, thrusts shallower, angled differently, yet equally intense. As soon as Trevor started making sounds again, they were all he could concentrate on, sharp and broken by his ear, half-formed words, primeval. Closing his eyes, he let them fill his mind, urge him on. Dropping his hand to wrap around Trevor’s cock again, he listened to the breathy sounds intensify as he trapped Trevor between his hand and his cock.

Reaching up and around, Trevor managed to tangle his hand in Adrian's hair, at the back of his head. The slight pain from hair twisting in the harsh grip, the moans by his ear, Trevor’s other hand joining his own on the hunter’s cock was enough to speed his thrusts, to have him strive for the end. Burying his face against the joint between Trevor’s shoulder and neck, he breathed shallowly, feeling his face twist with the strain of it all. Moving with intent, he felt the tug at the base of his spine, the coiling, twisting sensation signalling he was close.

When Trevor beat him across the finish line, coming again in Alucard's hand, the contraction of muscle kicked Adrian right over the edge he’d been tethering on, into blind oblivion. Unthinkingly, he bit down on Trevor’s shoulder in a silent scream as he came, barely conscious enough of his own actions to mind his fangs, marking Trevor but not drawing any significant amount of blood. 

Slowly straightening himself back up, he pulled out of Trevor’s ass, holding the hunter upright still as he seemed like he’d collapse down on the bed as soon as Adrian let go. He watched as his cock slipped out, followed by a slow trickle of slick and come. Fingers flexed just from the sight, digging into muscle where he held on, hard enough to bruise, but Trevor didn’t complain. 

Finally feeling the exhaustion, Adrian let go, and Trevor sank down on the bed. Falling on his ass, Adrian ended up sitting on the bed, legs still tangled with Trevor’s. Trying to catch his breath, he remained silent for a long while.

Finally Trevor turned to face him, eyebrow lifting slowly. “You okay?”

Adrian nodded, not trusting his voice yet. 

Trevor rolled onto his back, tucking his hands under his head. “Man, we should’ve just stayed in the bath. I’m all dirty again.”

Adrian couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled up in his throat. “When did you start caring about some grime?” His voice held, though it sounded different, raw and hoarse.

“The seventy-eight time Sypha told me I stank and threatened to set fire to my clothes.” Trevor smiled lazily. “Also, I wasn’t exactly doing this with anyone back when, too busy being angry at everyone.”

“That’s for sure, no-one would even get within twenty feet of you, the way you reeked. Maybe you’d been less angry if you’d cleaned up more often and got yourself laid once in a blue moon.”

Trevor lifted any eyebrow in answer. Alucard making jokes? He could live with that. “How about you, do you feel any less angry right now?”

“I…” What did he feel? Exhausted, spent, tired, sweaty, sticky - all of that and more. But honestly, he did feel calmer, more grounded than he had in weeks, months. Enough so as to be able to sit there and smile awkwardly. “I feel good. And sticky. Let’s go back down to the bath.” Apparently running around naked in the castle was what he’d be doing that day - but this time he’d remember to bring a set of clean clothes with him. He’d even lend Trevor some - _if_ he asked nicely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this chapter was as long as some of my other fics, and pure smut.


	12. Chapter 12

In the bath, Trevor refused to let go of his hold on Adrian, and somehow he’d ended up sitting across Trevor’s lap once more. The warm water surrounded them, yet only reached to just above his waist this time. Trevor’s hands roamed across his skin, never staying in one place for long. He was mapping out the brands yet again, the sensation enough to stir something in Adrian anew. Growling facetiously, he swatted at Trevor’s hands, too tired to go another round - wanting only to clean off, then sleep - but Trevor wouldn’t let him be.

“Why aren’t these healing?” Trevor asked, with sincerity. “Any wound I’ve seen you take before always healed super-humanly fast.”

Sighting, Adrian rubbed the scar across his chest. “For almost the same reason this will never disappear. Because of the magic, the power of the weapon that caused it. I _could_ …” Snapping his mouth shut, Adrian stopped himself. Trevor didn’t need to know.

Too late. “You could what? Is there a way to make them heal?” Trevor was staring at Adrian intently, searching for lies, for deceit.

Adrian sighed, knowing there was no use in lying. “Blood. Blood would most likely heal them right up - I could feel it when I tasted you, they wanted to. If I had taken more, they’d be gone in a short while.”

“The fuck didn’t you say so before?” Harsh, Trevor’s words sounded like anger, but his hands on Adrian spoke another story - still comforting, exploring, wanting. Silent for a moment, he seemed to ponder something, resolve soon settling in his features. “Take mine.”

Adrian instantly wanted to flee, but Trevor’s grasp on him tightened. “I… I can’t. I won’t. I don’t want to.”

“Liar,” Trevor simply said. “You’ve threatened to before - and you’ve wanted to. I felt your fangs on my skin, I’ve felt you struggling to hold back.”

The truth of it was obvious, but Adrian didn’t want to admit to it. Panicked, he looked for an out, and found none. Instead he found Trevor looking at him, face open and honest. 

“If it is what it takes to erase these past weeks and months entirely, I give it to you freely. Right now.”

Trevor Belmont was impossible. Incorrigible. His ancestors had to be spinning wildly in their graves at the prospect of the last Belmont not only getting fucked by a vampire, but even offering up his blood to him freely. The thought was enough to make Adrian smile again, light glinting off the shorter fangs. He relaxed in Trevor’s grasp, placing his palms flat against Trevor’s chest, finally looking him in the eyes. “Are you sure?”

Trevor stared back at him, unwavering. “Yes. But do it now, I might not offer it again tomorrow.”

Leaning close, Adrian let him see the fangs extend. “You’ll… like this,” he said, before searching out the carotid pulse calling him from beneath Trevor’s skin. Arterial blood, rich in oxygen, pumping in steady waves, beating a steady rhythm. It wasn’t a lie, Trevor _would_ enjoy it - as blood freely given came with its own dark reward - one more addictive than even opiates, which was one of the reasons he was so reluctant to feed off Trevor in the first place. 

As Alucard’s fangs punctured skin, there was a small stab of pain, but it vanished as soon as it appeared, washed away by a storm-surge of _pleasure_ , chasing the pull in Trevor’s arteries as blood was drained from him. It felt so overwhelmingly good that he collapsed against Alucard, breath quickening rapidly, his cock as hard as it had ever been. Biting down on the vampire's shoulder was all he could do to not outright beg for his touch.

Blood-dazed, Adrian still managed to read the situation, feeling the hunter’s excitement echo in himself, blood tainted by it. One hand at the back of Trevor’s head keeping them steady, he still managed to snake his other one between them, fingers wrapping around both their cocks, stroking slowly, in time with the pulse driving blood into his mouth. 

He listened to that pulse intently, withdrawing his fangs the moment it showed signs of slowing. Licking across the punctures, he closed them up.

Moving his hand from the back of Trevor’s head to cradle his chin, Adrian pulled him away from his shoulder, so he could look into dazed eyes. 

Blinking slowly, Trevor took in the sight of Alucard’s face above him, bloodied and _triumphant_ \- there was no other word to describe it. Where he a moment earlier had looked like skittish prey, he now exuded _predator_. 

A predator who took the time and effort to help his prey get off, his hand still stroking both of their cocks. 

Trevor figured he should just throw away his family name, because the only thing he wished for at that moment was for Alucard to kiss him, to share the taste of his own blood with him. He got his wish, as the vampire descended on him, mouth and tongue and _teeth_ \- hand cradling Trevor’s chin, holding him in place. 

The hand on his cock sped up as the mouth on his _demanded_. Yet too soon, Alucard pulled away, instead whispering commands in Trevor’s ear, his voice raw, his words dark and filthy, coaxing Trevor along, until all he was belonged to the vampire, and all he wanted was to please him.

Lips against Trevor’s ear, Adrian whispered, “Come for me,” and all Trevor could do was obey. Head snapping back as his whole body arched, and he groaned, come spilling in the water between them. 

Giving his own cock a few extra strokes, Adrian followed Trevor, undone by the sight before him, the taste of Trevor Belmont on his tongue.

Stilling, he rested his head on Trevor’s shoulder for a moment, gathering his wits, feeling the way his body reacted to the blood. The brands flared, hurt anew, as cells were called to life, told to to react. The brands felt like they were on fire, yet it felt right. Sitting up straight, slowly, he lifted his arm, staring at it, watching the scars visibly lessen by the moment. They would be gone without a trace in mere hours. 

Trevor reached up, touching the brands. “Good - though I sort of liked them, I know they bothered you.” Slumping back against the pool’s edge, he first closed his eyes, then opened one to look at Alucard, mischievously. “I get why you’re reluctant to do that. Fuck, that is addictive - you could make someone your slave, make them obey your every word and whim in no time offering _that_.” 

“Yes. Which is why I prefer not to. Taking away someone’s will like that… It’s wrong.”

“Wrong, yet so good,” Trevor huffed weakly, exhausted. “You’re going to break an old man like this.”

“You’re not that old, Belmont, there’s still time to spread your seed throughout the lands.”

“I feel old. And I don't want to - between you and Sypha, I’ll have my hands full.”

Leaning close, Adrian grinned. “Not just your hands…”

\---

Days passed, how many he forgot to take note of. Slowly, he started feeling more and more like himself - human. Trevor acted as a constant presence around him, straying in and out of the room Adrian was in, in and out of the castle, visiting the hold and hunting in the woodland around them. When he’d been out for a while, he’d always remind Adrian that he was back with a touch as he passed him, stolen kisses as he passed by and shared conversation at meal time. It felt just as comfortable as their bickering - which was quickly returning to previous levels. Neither of them were easy people to constantly get along with, and yet they didn’t mind. At night they still slept in each other’s company, Adrian’s nightmares quickly stopping completely.

Then came the knock on the door, and Adrian looked up from the fish he was preparing for dinner, to look at Trevor who was peeling vegetables by his side.

“It might be her,” Trevor said. “She’s not very patient, and it’s been about a week. I can see her having tired of the Speakers by now.”

Adrian rinsed off his hands in a basin of water and dried them off. “More patient than you, at least. _Your_ knocking was giving me a bad headache, so noisy.” He smiled, heading into the hall. Trevor followed just behind him. Whoever it was outside, he had Trevor alongside him - as Trevor had promised. Trevor to keep him from going crazy, Trevor to chase away his own, personal monster - his loneliness, as well as any intruders into the castle.

The doors opened slowly - apparently too slow for the person outside, as they slipped through the crack as soon as possible, a streak of blue launching itself at Adrian. 

It was indeed Sypha, having become a ball of all smiles, arms and hugs, attaching herself to Adrian in an instant.

“You’re okay!” she said, burying her face against his chest.

“That’s a pretty quick assertion, isn’t it?” he answered, unable to keep laughter from colouring his voice.

She let go just enough to look up at him. “You were smiling.” She looked past him, towards Trevor. “And so was he.”

Trevor huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You are really something, Sypha. Haven’t seen me in a week, and the first thing you do is feel up the vampire.”

Letting go of Adrian, she took a step back, looking them both over properly. Tilting her head slightly, she cracked a wide smile. “As if you have any reason to be jealous, Trevor Belmont, I see you’ve been keeping busy since you left me.”

Chuckling, Trevor turned his head to Alucard. “See? I goddamned told you so, she’s too perceptive.”

Adrian swore he didn’t blush, but there was an odd heat settling at the top of his cheeks, and he coughed, trying to clear his throat. “You really don’t mind?” he asked her.

Stepping closer again, she reached up, grabbed hold of his ear and pulled him down towards her, only to place a friendly, somewhat sloppy kiss at his forehead. “Nope, not at all. Just let me have my share once in a while, you two can do whatever you want to each other - but just don’t go about killing him when he gets too annoying, okay?”

Trevor had slowly drifted closer, and when she let go of Alucard, she stepped over to him instead, circling her arms around his neck and pulling him down into a kiss. When it broke, she smiled. “Missed you too, you big oaf.” 

Letting go, she stretched and grabbed Alucard’s wrist, pulling him closer as well. Holding onto them both, she turned to Trevor. “Told you, it is _our_ story. All three of ours’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is now officially the longest fic I've ever written, I don't know what happened? I have no attentions-span, so I don't write long-fic. It was just supposed to be a quick-fix to that godawful S3, but it spiralled out of control.
> 
> Whaddaya think, in the end?


End file.
